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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. march — music
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — humankind
  6. capital — a city
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. capital — money
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. land — to come down
  13. race — the arms race
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. march — the month
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bulb — for light
  21. race — a contest
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. capital — a big letter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com